Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have addressed bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation for treating acute kidney injury, but few reports have concerned BMSCs transplantation for chronic kidney disease.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the repair effects of BMSCs transplantation on podocytes of adriamycin-induced nephrotic rats via abdominal aorta and effects on Nephrin mRNA expression in the kidney.
METHODS: BMSCs of Sprague Dawley rats were harvested, cultured and purified by whole bone marrow method + adherence screening method, and then used for transplantation. The Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups: normal group: normal Sprague Dawley rats, no intervention; model group: injection of adriamycin once into caudal vein 5 mg/kg + infusion of saline 1 mL into abdominal aorta on the same day; BMSCs group: injection of adriamycin once into caudal vein      5 mg/kg + infusion of stem cells 1×10⁷ into abdominal aorta on the same day, about 1 mL volume. Eight rats from each group were collected at 7, 14 and 28 days following treatment. The cell membrane antigens were detected with flow cytometry analysis. The urine protein was measured at 24 hours using sulfosalicylic acid-sodium sulfate turbidimetric method. Serum albumin and blood fat were examined utilizing automatic biochemistry analyzer. The renal histological changes were observed under transmission electron microscope and using hematoxylin-eosin staining. The expression of Nephrin mRNA in the kidney tissues was measured using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with normal group, rats in model group developed nephropathy characterized by ascites, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, hypercholesteremia, and progressive renal injury. However, the symptoms in BMSCs group were significantly ameliorated compared with model group. Nephrin mRNA expression in kidney was significantly decreased in the model group compared with normal group (P < 0.05). Compared with model group, Nephrin mRNA expression was increased in BMSCs group (P < 0.05). Results have suggested that BMSCs play a protective effect in ardriamycin-induced nephrotic rats via increasing nephrin mRNA expression in kidney tissue.